Crystals of Gaia

The party returned to Mulhorand at Kivan’s request, so that he could join his people in their battle against Tazok. Before leaving Damcyan, King Edgar offered them the aid of one of his knights, Balasar. With the aid of their new ally they returned Kivan home and proceeded to Mysidia.

During the flight Tabitha, whom they agreed to allow travel with them, revealed herself to be a mighty Were-Owlbear Matriarch. She attacked the group and nearly defeated, however they prevailed and she was forced to flee to her own airship which was waiting nearby.

In Mysidia the group learned that Kefka’s plan was most likely to use the crystals to do something with the legendary city Midgar. Tellah instructed the group to go to Wintera while he did research on this.

The group landed at the town Winterhaven, where they went to meet Ember’s aunt, Erondre. She told them it would be another week or so before the castle reappeared in the mortal realm and asked for their assistance with a task. Recently there have been disappearances and unusual happenings and the rumor is that someone or something has taken residence in Winterhaunt, the mansion to the south-east. The town of Icicle was the hardest hit, so the group decided to head there first.

The group made the castle of Damcyan home for a week, making the best of their time there. At the end of that week, a loud crash was heard from the prison and the heroes went to investigate as the king went to defend the crystal. The enemy had tunneled their way into the underground castle and were attacking the prison. The heroes fought them off and explored down the tunnel, where they encountered an intelligent and not-so-friendly tembo named Ochoa, who retreated during the battle. The heroes continued on and emerged outside the castle, surrounded by a battalion of foes. The battle was intense, but the heroes survived, but to their dismay the castle began to rise. They returned quickly to find a wounded Edgar in the throne room, he explained to them that an extremely powerful foe had managed to get inside and steal the crystal.

(Kivan Story) King Coran is rumored to be dead, could this spell out the end for Mulhorand?

Part 1: The party arrived in Mulhorand after losing Zelante and attempting to rescue his mother. They found an ruined keep where Kivan knew the king had been hiding, but all they found were charred corpses and a confused Mul. The Mul shortly after recalled where the king had gone, to the city of Gwaren on the western shore of the island and they set out to find the king there. As they traveled they were attacked by a group of Tazok’s thugs and emerged victorious, but the victory was soon followed by distress as they heard somebody calling for help from within the nearby forest. Upon arriving at the scene, Orn leaped onto a raft in the middle of a swamp that held a woman who looked in very poor condition, she turned to Orn and told him it was a trap and suddenly the group was set upon by owlbears. The party barely managed to survive and attempted to rest afterwards, but were set upon by horribly weak robbers, which the party swiftly dealt with.

Part 1.5: The group sat to feast with King Coran after learning of Tazok’s plan to start conquering the rest of the world, heroes need to eat. However, the food at the feast was poisoned. Coran was not affected, however the queen fell prey to the toxins. As the poison set in, a band of mercenaries working for Tazok broke into the room, the party was able to fend them off, despite being weakened from the poison they also consumed. The king identified the venom and instructed the heroes to travel to the northern mountains to obtain the cure, the Panacea Fruit that only grew there.

Part 2: The group joined King Coran as they traveled to the northern mountains, Mons Lurius. They were attacked by some of the tribals, but managed to defeat them and climb the rest of the way to the top. At the top they were forced to battle the guardian of the peak. The battle was close, but the hero’s prevailed and were able to obtain the Panacea Fruit

Part 3: The group made their way back down the mountain and back to the Rebel Base. The queen was successfully restored to health. During a celebration the next day, Gestahl, whom they had met on the way down the mountain, revealed himself to truly be Kefka. The group fought his minions and were able to protect King Coran, however Kefka escaped. Afterwards the king instructed them to go to the Kingdom of Damcyan and protect the crystal. When they arrived, the castle was under siege and the party helped fight off a group of the enemies sneaking into the tower they landed on. They reported to Edgar Roni Figaro, king of the castle and he showed them the true power of the castle, its ability to move underground.

The heroes made their way through Castle Baron and confronted Golbez and Gilgamesh. They battled and emerged victorious, however the foes managed to escape. The heroes found a letter from someone named Kefka detailing some nefarious plots.

The heroes flagged down the ship and came aboard, only to be captured by a small army of orcs who had captured the ship from its previous crew. Showing their fierceness, they abandoned the boat they were brought up to the ship on and its helpless oarman. The group was bound and put belowdeck, but promptly escaped and laid waste to the orcs on the deck, escaping the ship shortly before the other orcs were able to sink the ship. They were able to make it to the small boat thanks to the oarman, who had been hit with an arrow, however he died, sparking a sadness in Orn.
They traveled toward the Kingdom of Baron in the boat and eventually caught sight of land, however they were assailed by sea zombies. The group was able to fend them off and made it into a cave leading further inland, where a crazy old man attacked them.
After slaying the old man the group proceeded through the cave, with the only problem being Orn rolling into the underground river, however they regrouped outside the cave. In the small town of Freeport, the group found a dwarf pilot that was willing to take them to Castle Baron in his airship at no cost, however once in the hangar, the heroes found there to be soldiers of Baron blocking the way in, they slew them and made their way onto the ship.

The heroes had failed to protect the Crystal of Water from being stolen by General Leo and had begun to help the kingdom recover. During this time the leader of Mysidia, Tellah returned from his travels. He was saddened, but did not seem very surprised. He found the heroes and spoke to them immediately, telling them that something was amiss in the Kingdom of Baron. He told the heroes that they must go to Baron and find out what was going on.
Tellah told them of a ferryman who would be willing to take them to the island Baron was located on. The group met up with him and they began their voyage, unfortunately they were ambushed by crabmen and the ship crashed on a deserted island. The island was not as deserted as it seemed though, there were beautiful women there that turned out to be deadly dryads. The group fought the creatures off and shortly after spotted a ship heading in their direction.

The adventurers were asked by King Kareth to travel to the temple of Bahamut they had initially set out for, before the attack by Garland, they had need of the heroes’ assistance. It took the heroes only a few hours to reach the temple where it was requested that they be teleported to the Kingdom of Mysidia and look into things there as all contact had been lost with them for a few days.
The heroes agreed to help, however something happened during the teleportation and they ended up in some unknown place immediately set upon by a beholder. They fought the beast off and waited a few hours before they were suddenly teleported again, this time successfully to Mysidia. Apparently some of the mages there had noticed the failed teleport and found their locations and saved them.
All was not well in the kingdom though, the city was under attack by the Kingdom of Baron, completely unprovoked. The mages requested the heroes protect the crystal the kingdom guarded, shortly before they were slain by invaders. The heroes battled their way to the crystal chamber and were confronted by General Leo Cristophe. He offered to spare them should they just hand over the crystal, but the heroes stood vigilant. The battle was fierce and the heroes emerged victorious, however Leo seemed unharmed after the battle and was able to capture the crystal. As he left, he told the group they fought valiantly and even threw a worn out crystal to Ember, telling her to use it well.